Missoni Founder Ottavio Missoni Dies at 92

Ottavio Missoni, who co-founded the iconic Italian fashion house with his wife Rosita in 1953, died this morning at his home in Sumirago, Italy, reportsWWD. He was 92 years old.

Earlier this month, Missoni, who went by the nickname "Tai," was hospitalized for a cardiac impairment, but was later released from facilities that evening.

Missoni started his career as an international track athlete, but in the 1940s convened to fight in World War II, in which he captured and spent four years held as a prisoner of war in Egypt. Following the war, Missoni competed in 1948 London Olympics, where he met his future wife Rosita. She was a student at the time. The two soon opened a small knitwear workshop together—the beginnings of the family's luxury label.